Posted on 09/13/2006 3:52:47 PM PDT by DannyTN
I've done it for years in Evolution forums, and finally came to realize that it was a waste of time, that those who rejected the Word of God were not interested in the truth. Period.
As an ex-Evolutionist I have seen both sides of this debate.
Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the heavens, and the other elements of the world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and the moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to be certain from reason and experience. Now it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and they hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make confident assertions [quoting 1Ti. 1:7; emphasis added].St. Augustine, The Literal Meaning of Genesis, 1:42-43.
I understand. And I have CD's full of these arguments, and could post them for weeks and months on these boards.
But I've learned that it is useless with unbelievers. They couldn't recognize the truth if it hit them in the face because the are so delusional intellectually.
I refuse to waste my time anymore.
Are you trying to make me laugh on purpose or what?
I must be delusional because I don't share your theological positions.
You said it, not me :)
So, anyone who does not share your theology is delusional. Lovely.
Ahh, I thought you were taking a class in biology, not physics, my apologies.
Physics is a whole different animal then evolution, but at the same time, your professor was right, and you are scientifically wrong.
Religiously, it doesn't matter to me, what you believe, but your beliefs, do not belong in science, and thank goodness, serious scientists, will not take your beliefs seriously in their scientific endeavors.
Right. So Cristians should abandon the teachings of God's Word on Creation and adopt the theory of Evolution for fear somebody might "laugh" at them.
Incredible.
I disagree with the author on the value of evolution. It provides the only practical framework for a taxonomic structure, allowing a systematic study or a confusing collection of species.
But that's about it.
You can laugh if you choose.
However, many on these threads would do well to observe the warning of the good saint.
We have been treated to some prime examples just on this thread alone.
Well let me see....either I believe God's Word OR I DON'T BELIEVE IT.
The idea that I should "halfway" believe it and ALSO accept theology that opposes it is just rediculous.
If you REALLY believe something then you consider anything else delusional.
What else would you consider it?
What garbage.
Learn to tell the truth and then lecture me on what does or doesn't make a good saint.
No, but perhaps you should realize some parts of the Bible were meant to be taken allegorically, rather than literally. (Trees with fruit that imparts knowledge upon ingestion sort of screams "allegory!!", doesn't it?)
I assume you don't take the rest of the Bible literally; why do you take the Creation story literally (especially when it contradicts everything we now know about science?)
Don't apologize, I also aced my biology classes.
Just my $.02. Well, actually, it was Solomon...
Proverbs 12:
1) Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
15) The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Oh please. The only thing worse than outright denial of the scriptures is the attempts to redefine it as meaning something other than it actually says.
The parts that were meant to be taken allegorically are obviuous enough.
You realize, of course, that people may have different opinions than you do on theological issues, and not be insane?
Do you realize how ignorant that makes you sound? Clue for the clueless: Of all the Americans who accept hte validity of evolution, the *majority* of them happen to be Christians.
Now, please explain to us just how a "straight A" whiz kid like yourself managed to make such a stupid and boneheaded error in logic as to falsely presume that being an "evolutionist" was equivalent to "rejecting God" (*and* that becoming "born again" somehow requires one to suddenly reject evolutionary biology).
Jorge, you haven't the first clue whatsoever on this topic, yet you keep beating your chest trying to convince us all that you've been intimately familiar with it from all sides.
You're a really, really bad bluffer. You keep revealing your total ignorance on this topic every time you open your mouth, which belies your frequent boasts about how you could win debates if only you deigned to do so...
You're just a cheap poseur who has to repeatedly boast about his alleged "offline glories" in order to try to impress us, because you have nothing whatsoever to actually offer here and in the present that is likely to garner any respect.
The flesh...
Thank you!
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